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  • From: JimStinehart AT aol.com
  • To: dwashbur AT nyx.net, b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] RB
  • Date: Tue, 9 Nov 2010 14:11:47 EST


Dave Washburn wrote: “The words "farm," "form," "from," "firm," "frame,"
and "film" all have two key consonants, F and M. Therefore, they must all be
derivatives of the same two-letter root. This is the logic you're using.
I hope you see the problem.”

Not at all. All of the Hebrew words I have cited can indeed be derived
from the archaic 2-consonant root RB, which means “to be big; to be big in a
manly way; to be great; or, to be bigger than three, that is, to be four”.
That root explains )RB( as a common word meaning “four”, )RB( as a giant’s
name meaning “Big”, and QRYT )RB( as a city name meaning “Great City”.
It also explains the Hebrew verb RB( in Leviticus as meaning “to be big in a
manly way”, as well as RB, RBH, etc., etc. All those Hebrew words are based
on the same 2-consonant root, RB.

Out of context, QRYT )RB( could mean either “City of Four” or “Great City”
. In context, a meaning of “City of Four” makes no sense, because it does
not fit the Biblical text in any way, and there is no “City of Four” in
Canaan. By sharp contrast, “Great City” makes perfect sense as the name of a
city that is twice said in the Biblical text to have a “gate”, and the
historical fit to Rubutu is perfect, linguistically based on the 2-consonant
root RB, and geographically based on Rubutu being next to a rural nirvana
[the
Aijalon Valley] located w-e-s-t [not south] of Bethel. Likewise, out of
context a man’s name might possibly be “Four” (although it’s hard to think
why), or it could be “Big”. In context, the name of an Anakim giant makes
perfect sense as meaning “Big”, while not making sense (not surprisingly)
as “Four”.

Moreover, a final ayin is inherently suspect in any event as not being a
true consonant. Many Semitic languages -- Phoenician, Punic, Hebrew -- on
occasion use ayin as a vowel. Amd Akkadian unceremoniously jettisoned ayin
very early on without so much as a “by your leave”. In particular, Hebrew
verbs that end with ayin routinely have a 2-consonant root that does not
include the final ayin: YD is the root of YD(; $M is the root of $M(; and
RB is
the root of RB(.

Finally, RB is the root of more city names in Canaan than virtually any
other set of consonants, whereas neither RB( nor )RB( is the root of any city
name in Canaan, whether we are talking Biblical evidence or non-biblical
evidence. Everything supports my proposal that Biblical QRYT )RB( is merely
an
alternative spelling of the Late Bronze Age city on the southern edge of the
Aijalon Valley, based on the well-attested archaic 2-consonant root RB:
Rubutu.

Jim Stinehart
Evanston, Illinois




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